Research
Working group Salehi interests are multi and interdisciplinary and lie at the interface of materials science, biomaterials design, biofabrication, and tissue engineering. Specifically, the lab has expertise in developing and combining advanced biomaterials with microfabrication techniques to engineer complex, functional, and 3D tissue constructs. Our research mainly focuses on studying the cell behaviors in contact with biomaterials by evaluating the biocompatibility and immunocompatibility as well as the adhesion, gene regulation, level of differentiation, and maturation of the cells.
Based on this vision on improving the in vitro interaction of cells and tissues with engineered materials, we have also focused on the influence of various stimulators and regulators such as electrical, mechanical, and magnetic stimulations, topographies, surface patterning, and mechanical properties on cells. The formation of functional soft tissues such as muscle, muscle-tendon junction, neuron, and cornea are of particular interest.
The research output should clarify how cells sense and respond to the biomaterials and thereby further modify their environment towards building tissue-like constructs. Engineering such tissue-like constructs will support our understanding of tissue structure, background of disease and support us in developing clinically applicable materials.
Current projects are in the following areas:
- Development of printable and cell compatible bioink for 3D bioprinting of skeletal muscle tissue
- Combination of touch spinning and bioprinting systems for skeletal muscle tissue fabrication
- Tissue engineering of skeletal muscle tissue and its interfaces: neuromuscular junction and musculotendinous junction
- Injectable cell carriers for cell delivery in skeletal muscle tissue
- External stimulations and regulators
- 3D modeling of brain-barriers: blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-cerebrospinal fluid (B-CSF) barriers
- Cornea tissue engineering